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Semantic Web Sparks Evolution of Health 2.0 –


A Road Map to Consumer-Centric Healthcare
Jen McCabe Gorman and Maarten den Braber

Index Terms — consumer-centric care, health 2.0, health


Abstract — Delivery strategy in a consumer-centric 3.0, health 4.0, neXthealth, semantic web, healthcare
healthcare system focuses on identifying, facilitating, and consumerism
integrating online and offline communication and care
delivery channels needed to reach and coordinate end I. INTRODUCTION
goals (value) as defined by disparate customer segments The power and role of the internet for patients, and for also
(patient, provider, payor, policymaker, caretaker, caregivers, medical professionals and other stakeholders in
etcetera). health, is increasing: the era of the e-patient, e-doctor and e-
Services are location independent, time independent, medicine dawns . But while patients are increasingly
provider de-linked, and value-generating. Rising communicating and collaborating with ‘likes’ (other patients),
healthcare costs, increasing chronic conditions, and barriers to seamless, productive online and offline
barriers to access drive the search for a new route to safer, communications with ‘non-likes’ (providers, payors) persist.
cost-effective quality care. Early web-based healthcare activities were limited to
Health 2.0 is content and community: patients trusting providing information (provider side) and searching for
patients. The semantic web sparks Health 2.0 evolution information (consumer side). Health 1.0 was all about content
towards more consumer-centric care by enabling viral - medical dictionaries, hospital websites and finding
network growth and increasing personal-usage value of information on new or obscure treatments. But patients lacked
patient-created, "human-to-human" centric networks. a relevant way to form meaningful connections around
Semantic web technology and open source API information obtained online.
development provide opportunities to build consumer- The advent of Health 2.0 – content combined with
centric services. But the roadmap for true consumer- communities – provides a way for patients to establish online
centric care does not end with semantic web growth – relationships oriented around the achievement of personal
health and wellness goals.
rather it begins there.
However, current virtual services still do not allow patients
The authors present a conceptual roadmap for reaching
to transport the full value of these communities back offline –
consumer-centric care at the intersection of two rapidly-
they do not completely integrate ‘traditional’ brick-and-mortar
evolving developmental axes: joining patients and healthcare providers and care processes with online services.
professionals in the healthcare conversation and As Health 2.0 evolves, two important changes will take
combining brick-and-mortar real world systems with place. First, a cultural change – revising the traditional,
virtual online services. Future evolutionary phases Health exclusionary definition of who participates in healthcare and
3.0 and 4.0 are defined using examples. wellness management conversations (to include patients as
The authors provide a model, termed "neXthealth," integral partners in care and prevention). Second, a technical
which gives stakeholders concrete tools to define their or business model change - which involves joining online
position (using existing service lines and development services targeting patients with existing offline services,
initiatives) and focus on four critical factors needed to providing seamless semantic interoperability [2], emphasizing
realize complete consumer-centric care: content, the importance of consumer engagement and patient
community, commerce and coherence. responsibility.
Health 2.0 is one stop on the roadmap towards true
consumer-centric care, but it is not our final destination. The
next stop on the roadmap, Health 3.0, harnesses the value of
Jen McCabe Gorman (jennifermccabegorman@yahoo.com) and Maarten den communities through value-based interactions. Health 4.0 is
Braber (mdb@twister.cx). In collaboration with Martijn Hulst, Jacqueline
the stage that connects all earlier phases.
Fackeldey, and Niels Schuddeboom, the authors arranged the first
international Health 2.0 Unconference, held April 12, 2008 in Amsterdam Although semantic web development sparks the evolution
(http://www.health20.nl/). These efforts led to the creation of the neXthealth of consumer-centric care, we define it not as the end-stage but
movement. The group is currently evangelizing the use of Health 2.0 rather the route that leverages new ways of communicating
initiatives in Dutch and European healthcare systems, organizing a series of
and collaborating. Complete consumer-centric care (C4)
unconference sessions for hospital teams and the inaugural neXthealth Europe
meeting (Spring 2009). consists of four important C’s: content, community, commerce
and coherence. The ultimate goal of the consumer-centric
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movement is the 5th and final ‘C’ – care that is more efficient beyond traditional ad-revenue based income streams. Health
and empathic. 3.0 will be heralded by an era of mergers and acquisitions:
small, inefficient, redundant offerings die out, some
organizations will merge with larger firms, and additional
II. EVOLUTIONARY STAGES OF CONSUMER-CENTRIC CARE partnerships will develop among Health 2.0 startups.
Health 1.0 (1C) = content, the “read-only” Web. Examples Health 4.0 (4Cs) = content + community + commerce +
are WebMD, early DrKoop e-newsletters, and searching for coherence. This evolutionary stage connects the real world of
clinical information on MedScape.com. brick-and-mortar systems with the virtual world of online
Health 2.0 (2Cs) = content + community. Health 2.0 adds services.
community on top of new and existing content. Health 2.0 Coherence features in Health 4.0 companies will connect
services provide ways for patients to collaborate using patients and professionals in new ways: facilitating human-to-
information accessed online: patients start trusting patients. human conversations that determine care pathways both on
An example of a Health 2.0 service is DiabetesMine.com, run and offline. Health literacy developed in earlier stages is
by blogger Amy Tenderich [3]. employed here – patients become an integral part of the
Health 3.0 (3Cs) = content + community+ commerce. healthcare conversation, proactive partners in care responsible
Health 3.0 is Health 2.0 plus the addition of commerce, which for setting and working towards personal wellness goals.
involves firms building business models based on consumers At the Health 4.0 stage we begin to move beyond a flawed
accessing content and forming groups. Commerce is the encapsulation approach to treating illness and injury, which
portion of Health 3.0 that successfully adds value. Value is has resulted in today’s perpetually fragmented delivery
defined by four important characteristics: (1) spans the system. At the Health 4.0 stage we see an emphasis placed on
complete process, (2) always connects to a specific optimizing health and wellness, prior to a disease state, all
stakeholder (3) differs for every individual stakeholder, (4) along a consumer’s lifeline.
must be delivered through a sustainable process [4]. Health 4.0 will begin to emerge when multiple stakeholder
Commerce is the function that adds value for both the groups realize the system lacks coherence necessary to evolve.
consumer and the clinician. It is important to note here that Businesses, hospital systems, NGOs, governmental agencies,
‘commerce’ in a consumer-centric system can be defined as consumers, nonprofits, foundations, providers, caregivers,
any transaction-based model, not necessarily one that is pundits, academics et. al. begin to agree that although many
monetized. The commerce requirement of Health 3.0 can be offerings provide access to content and community, as well as
satisfied simply, with the consumer sending information/data to the most advanced medical technologies, there remains a
to the service, ‘transacting’ with the system via transmission catastrophic gulf. New coalitions and partnerships will
of personal identifying information – for example, by acknowledge the value of cooperative work groups in building
establishing a user account and logging in repeatedly to a a bridge to better care.
website. As a result, interactions between consumers at the
Indeed, many Health 2.0 companies are built upon 'free' or intersection of the “real/virtual” axis and the
'freemium' access models. In a 'freemium' model, basic “patient/professional” axis, as the authors will illustrate using
interaction with a site is free, but users are charged for a the ‘neXthealth model’, become much more coherent. Real-
premium membership, which provides additional value-added time, seamless interoperability is achieved as companies join
services (e.g. SugarStats.com). forces. Here we present a scenario that incorporates multiple
Examples of current Health 3.0 companies are American stakeholder interactions and illustrates what is possible with
Well, Carol.com and Organized Wisdom. In some Health 3.0 the advent of Health 4.0.
models, like searching for a condition-based WisdomCard ™
on Organized Wisdom, consumers transact with the system by
interacting using personal identification data (user login, etc). III. AN EXAMPLE OF HEALTH 4.0
This method of commerce, the 3rd C of Health 3.0, A consumer is out shopping and begins having difficulty
maximizes value for both parties - the consumer gains a breathing – but the problem is not so severe that she
WisdomCard compiled by a Health Guide utilizing semantic immediately seeks emergency care. The patient logs onto a
web techniques ("smart search" or “human powered search”), web browser from the store, using her BlackBerry. This is a
while the company gains additional user data and new symptom onset.
demomodelics that inform future search topics. This user She accesses a chat with a doctor function, which includes
interaction is precisely what creates value, literally ‘organizing live streaming video, via the American Well system.
wisdom’ via an informed user base. In the Health 3.0 sphere, American Well is an existing Health 3.0 firm which allows
simply gaining a new user increases value for companies, as users to access online physician services. Access is paid for by
user-strength/community-strength numbers often drive market the consumer’s insurance provider.
valuations and are a primary data set used to secure advertisers This first portion of our scenario is not far off in the future –
and venture capital. a physician-chat function will actually be available using the
At an industry-wide level, with the onset of the Health 3.0 American Well software as a service (SaaS) platform later this
phase entrepreneurs will test business models that move year. However, American Well is currently only enabling live
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video via a computer access point, not a mobile phone access express themselves and take an active role in the healthcare
point. Scientists are, however, working on telemedicine process, beginning to ‘own’ care definitions. Patients begin to
capabilities for mobile phones [5]. communicate increasingly proprietary views on disease and
Back to our patient, who is concerned about her respiratory wellness management and its impact on personal identity.
issue. The physician chatting with her through the American With this new self-awareness comes curiosity about others -
Well portal also becomes concerned, and begins patients begin asking questions (forums), establishing
simultaneously transmitting a transcript of the call to the relationships in online communities (social networks) and
patient’s local emergency room. Such a service is not yet collaborate to create authoritative, participatory content
available, but when it emerges, provides the coherence (wikis). The 2008 Edelman Trust Barometer shows people
tend to trust “a person like me” more than authority figures
necessary to connect the 4Cs of complete consumer centric
from business, government, and media” [7].
care.
Although there is a great deal of debate about how precisely
This case scenario allows our consumer to access expert
to define Health 2.0, the subsector can also be described as
content via a community portal (American Well’s SaaS “the use of social software and its ability to promote
service which connects consumers to providers in real-time), collaborations between patients, their caregivers, medical
and fulfills the 3rd C, commerce, via a value-added transaction professionals, and other stakeholders in health” [1]. An
where she gains the physician’s recommendation, virtually, example of patients trusting patients is TuDiabetes.com: “a
that she should visit her local emergency room, where the community for people touched by diabetes.” It currently
physician on duty has received a summary of their call. connects more than 2700 diabetics sharing experiences and
Value for the consumer is maximized through this advice about their diseases through forums, chat, photos and
commerce function as well – our patient can reach a physician video.
literally ‘on call’ who guides her offline back to the brick and Via sites like TuDiabetes.com, viewpoints such as “my
mortar hospital environment using information gained online. condition informs who I am, but does not equal my total
With Health 4.0, consumers are able to ‘dip’ in and out of identity” and “I am a person who is also a patient, not a patient
online and offline healthcare/wellness management systems who is also a person” ricochet around the web, and self-
(hospitals, clinics) and services (communities, search) at will. advocacy begins to migrate offline.
Again, the reason we have not yet arrived at the Health 4.0 Although Health 2.0 is positively advancing patient self-
stage is because the system lacks cohesive goods/services that advocacy, empowering us through new channels, the current
connect the first 3Cs: content, community, and commerce. movement is still largely focused on the virtual, or ‘e-patient’
experience.
Innovation and continuity among multiple stakeholder groups,
Another weakness of current Health 2.0 initiatives is the
not just patients and providers, are needed to prevent disparate
tendency of communities to attract similar people. Many focus
strategy development and episodic access and usage.
on connecting “like-minds,” relatively homogeneous groups
At this moment we cannot identify any true examples of such as patients with the same diagnosis or physicians in the
Health 4.0 companies. Even companies such as American same subspecialty. Similar groups then generate very similar
Well cannot yet send a transcript of the patient/physician chat content. Users become settled and ‘comfortable’ and thus less
back to a local emergency room doctor in real-time, as we inclined to venture out and advocate for other consumer
illustrated in the example above. The service is ‘stuck’ in groups and systemic change.
Health 3.0 stage because it does not provide coherence that Although people will always build communities that allow
ties the virtual interaction seamlessly back into multiple care us to establish a sense of belonging (“like attracts like”), the
delivery nodes within the brick-and-mortar system. semantic web can help solve this issue by enabling seamless
communications, thus making it ‘easy’ to establish relatively
‘pain free’ online and offline connections between many
IV. CURRENT EVOLUTIONARY STAGE: DEFINING HEALTH 2.0 different stakeholder groups (as illustrated in our respiratory
IN DEPTH (CONTENT + COMMUNITY) patient example above).
It is no coincidence that this paper terms evolutionary stages The current issue of online/virtual services often being
of consumer-centric care ‘the 4Cs’ – the authors import disconnected from real brick and mortar systems cannot be
inspiration for this lexicon from original web pioneers, addressed by technology alone. As a result, within the Health
including Tim Berners-Lee [6]. The Cs present in Health 1.0 2.0 community we already see evidence of an emerging need
and 2.0 detailed above, content + community, are also often for adding true value by making the service commercially
used to describe the evolution of Web 1.0 to Web 2.0. interesting (commerce) and a nebulous desire to connect
Searching and reading information (content) was a key virtual services and brick and mortar systems (coherence).
function of the first generation internet – Web 1.0, also
sometimes called the “read-only” web. Control was in the
hands of a few publishers, who unilaterally determined what
information had value.
With Health 2.0, content + community, we witness a new
source of online authority – patient publishers entering the
space via blogs and other communities. Patients start to
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What we have been lacking, until now, is a practical,


relatively easy-to-follow model describing how to connect the
dots on the roadmap to consumer care.

V. SPARKING HEALTH 2.0 CHANGE: THE SEMANTIC WEB


The power of the semantic web is its ability to join many
different entities – it merges the ability to connect minds with
machines. This is precisely what is needed to break down silos
caused by disparate data ownership (and resulting authority
positions) in the current hierarchical system of care delivery.
To succeed in connecting myriad data points of
health/wellness/injury/illness data along a consumer’s lifeline,
a superhuman amount of computational capability is needed.
Minds or machines working separately cannot accomplish
the data sifting, prioritizing, and storing capabilities needed to
achieve Health 4.0 (4Cs): content + community + commerce
+ coherence = fully realized consumer centric care.
But minds and machines working in concert can. The
semantic web and concurrent open source API movement Fig. 1 neXthealth: defining consumer-centric care at the intersection of (1)
harnesses the cognitive surplus of human and machine joining patient and professional in the healthcare conversation and (2) using
computational power - using machines to help us get more brick-and-mortar systems and virtual services.
value for ‘mind time.’
Smart search is thus becoming the holy grail of Health 2.0
engaged super-patients,’ and most consumers will fall in the
growth – how to harness user-centricity in disjointed systems,
middle 80 percent, choosing to become engaged some of the
connect communities with content, and build coherent
time and to remain disengaged at other intersections of care
platforms that recombine brick and mortar “real world”
planning and delivery.
existing systems with virtual online software-as-a-service “At will” engagement means consumers select when and
(SaaS) offerings. where they wish to be engaged. Just as a patient today can
The semantic web is the holy grail of the Web dot-o choose to refuse a medication or not follow doctors’ orders, a
developmental crusade, just as fully realized consumer centric consumer in the Health 4.0 era can refuse to engage with
care is Valhalla for Health 2.0 proponents. semantic web advances, or can choose to adopt the latest HIT
or software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings.
The central point is access at will, according to the
VI. NEXTHEALTH: A CONCRETE MODEL FOR ORGANIZATIONS consumers’ wants – in Health 4.0 consumer access is not
JOURNEYING TOWARDS CONSUMER-CENTRIC CARE limited according to an externally-dictated classification of
Consumer-centric care is at the intersection of two ‘needs’ that results in the narrowing of access channels we see
important developments: (1) joining patients and providers in in the current care delivery system.
a collaborative conversation and (2) combining brick-and- It is also important to note consumer responsibility, as
mortar systems with virtual services to allow seamless detailed at the center of the neXthealth model (see Figure 1),
interoperability. relies on transparency, which is certainly missing in the
Again, the arrival of Health 4.0 heralds fully realized current brick-and-mortar system.
consumer-centric care, when consumers are able to selectively Consumer-centric healthcare, Health 4.0, necessitates
‘dip’ in and out of online and offline systems and services at consumers having shared access to data and thus and a shared
will. role in decision making. The realization of consumer-centric
The ultimate goal of consumer-centric care on the clinical care also relies on valuation made possible by minds and
side is to maximize efficient, empathic care. The ultimate goal machines working together, which is what the semantic web
of consumer-centric care on the customer side is to encourage provides.
‘staying well’ and the achievement of personal wellness goals. Developments in semantic web technology are organized
A consumer-centric system relies on consumers sharing and built out/developed according to value for the end user –
responsibility. When consumers choose to assume the consumer. It’s harnessing algorithms to meet the end-goals
responsibility in the neXthealth model, they move towards of the user-base, as defined by developers.
becoming proactive partners in care. In the next section of this paper, and during the concurrent
Full realization of Health 4.0 absolutely requires active presentation at SWWS ’08, the authors will use their
consumer engagement – not 100% engagement, which is neXthealth model to modelically illustrate how to plot both
impossible to achieve, but consumer engagement according to current service lines and conceptual development initiatives
the 10-80-10 rule, where 10 percent of consumers will choose along the evolutionary stages moving us towards consumer-
not to engage the healthcare system, 10 percent will be ‘hyper- centric care.
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Modelic illustration of how to, literally and figuratively, products and services that pull consumers from polite interest
connect the dots on the road to realizing Health 4.0 is vital to purchase.
because the sector faces significant challenges related to the At some point it really is all about ROI; value as return on
divide between current brick-and-mortar systems and online investment for the business entity and value as return on
services. Some of the challenges are detailed below. individual goal realization for the healthcare consumer.
New dynamics enabled by the semantic web will enable a
brave 10% of super-patients to take the plunge and connect
VII. CONSIDERATIONS FOR NEXTHEALTH with other than ‘standard’ stakeholders. Health 2.0 companies
must ensure they market aggressively to this segment, which
Although the authors optimistically map out a future where will become early evangelizers, embodying disruptive
consumers access web and real-world services that are innovation within the current system. During our presentation,
seamlessly integrated, the current reality is quite different. the authors will illustrate several real-world examples of how
Few doctors are even willing to answer e-mail. [8] Refusal to do this using the neXthealth model.
to integrate relatively ‘basic’ tech adoption into current The authors will then literally connect the dots, moving
medical practice, such as using email and implementing beyond Health 2.0 towards Health 4.0, by plotting service line
electronic health record systems (EHRs), demonstrates that points. This visual representation makes it easy for audience
moving current healthcare providers (delivery) to more members to see how patients can connect with payers,
extensive reliance on Web 2.0, HIT, Health 3.0, and other physicians with family, and many other forms of
internet-related services will be excruciatingly difficult. communication that cause inefficiences.
Part of this reluctance results from financial systems that Looking at the horizontal axis of Figure 1, this means that
don’t yet incentivize or pay doctors and other caregivers for patients and other stakeholders will have to expand beyond
early adoption of new services to communicate and what they view as their current network to deliver true
collaborate with patients and other stakeholders [9]. Health consumer-centric care.
2.0 and 3.0 firms such as American Well are just starting to The battle over control of information will be another
change this [10]. important issue that has to be addressed on the road to Health
In order to advance to Health 4.0, we need killer apps [11] 4.0, as we will demonstrate using neXthealth. Hospitals
that promote access by decreasing complexity inherent in the currently control much of the patient information, however
backend combination of multiple web-based technologies. A ‘ownership’ of medical records and personal health
killer app for consumer-centric care must be easy to use, information is a hotly debated issue that will continue to
presented in a web-based format that is familiar to ‘basic’ gather coverage [12]. Using a far more detailed model than the
internet users (email, online banking, auctions, chat room use, basic neXthealth model above, the authors will illustrate why
photo upload/hosting, etc.) safe, and provided by a trusted co-creation and co-ownership is the only solution capable of
entity which takes consumers’ security concerns and providers driving the consumer-health movement.
cost and portability concerns seriously. Co-ownership of records and cooperation with determining
Health 2.0 proponents must also be careful not to make the personal wellness goals and resultant care pathways along a
same mistake as some developers working on the semantic consumer’s lifeline also necessitates a sea change in the
web: we must remain focused on the need for practicality. current relationship between patients and providers. We must
What will consumer-centric killer apps be used for? By whom move from the current ‘dictation’ model to a ‘conversation’
will they be used? where the input of both parties is valued.
We must not become so enthralled with multi-functionality This paradigm shift also asks the patient to trust service
and elegant design that we ignore the value contributed by providers with very intimate details of their lives, including
simplistic, easy to use features – remembering always that deeply personal wellness goals, which is more likely to
better care is the 5th C realized via consumer-centric health. happen if the movement towards consumer-centric health is
The moment multiple stakeholder categories can clearly see well documented and gradual rather than highly reactionary
the added value of Health 2.0 initiatives (and beyond), they and sporadically defined. It is this desire to have all
will start adjusting patterns of usage and behavior. Slowly at stakeholders working from a commonly accepted, practical
first, but remember the goal is to first engage the 10% of the model that inspired the authors to complete this paper. The
population composed of ‘super patients,’ and then work on authors, in addition to other authorizes, realize that to change
building market-share among the middle 80%, the ‘sometimes the views of patient-provider interaction and encourage the
engaged.’ sharing of such intimate details, we must first bring personal
Although new to healthcare, driving behavior change by health application (PHAs) to full fruition via the semantic
marketing to consumers is certainly not new to other web, where consumers are already used to sharing very
customer-driven sectors such as online banking, online travel, intimate details of our lives [13].
media, communications, and entertainment – an example is a The final important barrier standing in the way of full
technological innovation like the iPhone. While mobile
Health 4.0 realization is the joining of real brick and mortar
internet technology has existed for quite some time, Apple’s
services with virtual online services. Different developments
focus on ease of use and overall attractiveness of the offering
pulled customers over the line from polite interest to purchase and stakeholder groups in healthcare do not ‘play well’
at point-of-sale. We must do the same in healthcare – provide together – it’s not a team sport yet.
Health 2.0 initiatives are currently relatively small startups
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filling specialized niches. But in healthcare filling niches is of countries, and the ‘explosion’ of healthcare IT in general. Not
little use if complete industry steering remains solely in the only do these developments stress the need for communication
hands of massive, slow-moving conglomerates such as multi- and visualization (‘being in control’), but also the need for
hospital systems. navigators – both people and services that coordinate care and
This means that the true value of Health 2.0 and beyond guide users through the complex delivery system. There is
only exists as part of a larger, interconnected whole, as the great potential for semantic web initiatives to combine minds
authors demonstrate using an expanded model based on Figure and machines to address this need.
1. This neXthealth model gives stakeholders concrete tools (3) Changing control responsibilities. Consumers are
needed to define their position (using existing service lines increasingly becoming engaged and taking responsibility for
their own healthcare decision making [14]. This increases the
and development initiatives) and focus on four critical factors
need for systems and services that help manage conditions
needed to realize true consumer-centric care: content,
[17] as well as track, share and reach life and wellness goals.
community, commerce and coherence.
While some of these initiatives stir extremely contentious
debates related to privacy and access concerns (e.g. the
discussion of PatientsLikeMe members sharing information
about drug use), at the same time ultimately consumer-centric
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS applications address those concerns by giving control to the
This research would not have been possible without the patient (PHR) instead of the system (EHR). This clash of the
generous help, inspiration and research support of those ‘data titans’ is will be an important driver for the adoption and
involved with the first Health 2.0 Unconference NL (April 12, development Health 2.0 (and neXthealth) initiatives.
2008). Special thanks go to those involved in realizing the (4) Focus on personalization. Personalization in healthcare
neXthealth initiative with verve, passion, and speed: Martijn is not only apparent in the shifting of costs and coordination
Hulst, Jacqueline Fackeldey, Jeroen Kuipers and Niels responsibilities, but also in other innovations such as
Schuddeboom. The authors extend a special vote of gratitude personalized medicine (genomics) and changing business
to Dr. Lodewijk Bos for providing a link to the conference and models (retail medicine). These developments propel the
his comments on this paper. evolution of Health 2.0 by providing the healthcare consumer
with new personalized tools. Examples are new genetic
screening services (23andme) consumer-oriented PHR
APPENDIX providers (HealthVault, Google Health) and retail clinics
(Wal-Mart, MinuteClinic).
Different factors drive the evolution of Health 2.0 towards
(5) Continuous, concurrent innovation. Innovation in
true consumer-centric care (neXthealth). For the purposes of
healthcare is happening in many areas, all at once: medicine
this presentation, providing a practical roadmap to consumer
and treatments, IT/technology, processes etcetera. These
centric care, the authors didn’t wish to focus extensively on
innovations are continuous rather than sporadic [18]. While
barriers to entry or contributing factors. However, the authors
one could argue a myriad of smaller innovations are less likely
have identified five important trends which they will detail in
to have widespread disruptive effects similar to the invention
future publications. For SWWS ’08 attendees interested in the
of penicillin or anesthetics or discovering the polio vaccine,
evolution of Health 2.0, however, we provide some
we must be cautious not to underestimate the combined
publications and suggestions for further reading.
Five primary trends include (1) increasing costs and valuation of many smaller scale innovations and inventions
competition (2) increasing complexity (3) changing control now focusing on the consumer (cf. the Long Tail [19]). This
responsibility, (4) focus on personalization, (5) continuous increasing focus on the consumer is visible in current practices
of evidence based medicine and evidence based design [20].
innovation.
(1) Increasing costs and competition. Healthcare costs for
the individual are increasing [14] and current spend levels of
healthcare in many countries are unsustainable. Total costs of REFERENCES
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[7] Edelman, “2008 Trust Barometer”;


http://www.edelman.com/trust/2008/.
[8] The Associated Press, “Few doctors answer patient e-mails with a :),”
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[12] Jacob Goldstein, “How Personal Health Records Could Make Care Less
Efficient,” The Wall Street Journal Health Blog, Apr. 2008;
http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2008/04/25/how-personal-health-records-
could-make-care-less-efficient/?mod=WSJBlog.
[13] Robert Steinbrook, “Personally Controlled Online Health Data -- The
Next Big Thing in Medical Care?,” N Engl J Med, vol. 358, Apr. 2008,
pp. 1653-1656.
[14] “Informed Medical Decisions - Information To Make Sound Medical
Decisions”; http://www.informedmedicaldecisions.org/.
[15] Michael Porter and Elisabeth Teisberg, Redefining Health Care:
Creating Value-based Competition on Results, Harvard Business School
Press, 2006.
[16] “Intuitive Surgical, Inc”; http://www.intuitivesurgical.com/index.aspx.
[17] “SugarStats.com - Simple, Online Blood Sugar Tracking for Diabetes
Management”; http://www.sugarstats.com/.
[18] Ted Eytan, “The Patient is Still the Focus: 21st Century Family
Medicine in Sebastopol, California,” May. 2008;
http://www.tedeytan.com/2008/05/03/904.
[19] Chris Anderson, The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling
Less of More, Harper Collins USA, 2006.
[20] The Center for Health Desgin, “Definition of Evidence-Based Design
for Healthcare”;
http://www.healthdesign.org/aboutus/mission/EBD_definition.php.

Jen McCabe Gorman is a blogger and consultant covering global hospital


innovation and the consumer-centric healthcare movement at Health
Management Rx (www.healthmgmtrx.blogspot.com). She sources news and
interviews for The Health Care Blog and Health 2.0 USA. Admitted to
Georgetown University’s Master of Health Systems Administration Program,
she will matriculate in 2009.
Current research (to be presented at Medicine 2.0 2008) includes the role
of medical blogging in eliminating the patient ‘other,’ defining the evolution
of Health 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 and harnessing the semantic web to spark systemic
change.
As a consultant with a research/analysis background, she remains involved
in vetting health information technology startups. For Health 2.0 USA
(Matthew Holt & Indu Subaiya), Jen created a custom methodology to
evaluate quantitative and qualitative factors of Health 2.0 companies.
An accomplished patient advocate, Jen serves as Vice Chair, Board of
Directors, for Baltimore-based nonprofit MEDBANK of Maryland, Inc.
(www.medbankmd.org), which provides free prescription medications to
35,000 residents via pharmaceutical firms' patient assistance programs
(PAPs). She is a current Washington Metro Society of Healthcare Marketing
& PR member and a member of the American College of Healthcare
Executives (ACHE).
Maarten den Braber is a master student Industrial Engineering and
Management at the University of Twente, specializing in Healthcare
Technology and Management. He is currently (School of Management and
Governance) finishing his master thesis on Building Value-Based Hospital
Strategies at the Dutch Institute of Knowledge-Intensive Entrepreneurship.
Interested in the combination of healthcare, events and technology,
Maarten is focused on developing new disruptive business models in
healthcare leveraging the power of the network to find new ways to engage
patients.

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